


Marianne Character Studies

by Zalakbian



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24213418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalakbian/pseuds/Zalakbian
Summary: Just a collection of small, 500ish word ficlets done via prompts, done to better understand the character of Marianne.Ratings/Categories may vary from drabble to drabble.
Kudos: 12





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Marianne's arrival at Garreg Mach."
> 
> If you like this, please consider joining to talk about it on the Edeleth Discord Server I run! https://discord.gg/m2AVbJ3

Marianne feels a blast of crisp spring air hit her face the moment the carriage door opens. She raises a hand to block the midday sun from piercing her eyes, the young noble is so rarely out in the open like this, most days she is usually hunched over a desk reading whatever assignment on politics and rhetoric was given to her by Lord Edmund.

Today though, Marianne's homeschooling comes to an end. Her adoptive father decided that it would be worth it for her to attend the same academy so many other promising Alliance nobles were going to this year, a list which included a lady of Goneril, as well as the heirs to Houses Gloucester and Ordelia. Marianne had been presented this enrollment on her 17th birthday like it was a gift, and she was only able to half heartedly thank him for it.

But, along with that enrollment certificate came the following, oft repeated lines.

"Do not talk about your Crest." Marianne nods.

"Do not tell anyone of your true heritage." Marianne swears to it.

Right away there is a gracious hand to help Marianne down from the carriage's steps, but it is not the driver, nor her adoptive father, but someone wearing a uniform of the very school she was set to start classes in tomorrow.

"Greetings, my name is Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, and you must be the illustrious Marianne von Edmund, correct?”

Marianne just blinks at the tall student with purple hair a few times, it feels as though everything he said came out in one syllable, she apologizes and asks Lorenz to repeat himself.

“No worries, as I said, my name is Lorenz-” he is suddenly cut off by the authoritative voice of Lord Edmund.

“I apologize on behalf of my daughter, she is not used to hearing new people, you may want to speak a little softer and lower until she gets used to it.”

Lorenz graciously accepts the apology, and even offers to show the two around the academy. Margrave Edmund agrees before Marianne can even pipe up a word, she so badly wants to just go to bed. A minute into their tour Marianne finally pieces together Lorenz’s earlier question, and interrupts the two of them by suddenly answering it. “Yes, um, I am Marianne, it’s nice to meet you, Lord Glouscester.”

This time it’s Lorenz looks a little dumbfounded, “Ah, you needn't be so formal with me Marianne, just Lorenz will do.”

Through their walkabout they visit the Golden Deer classroom, where Marianne meets three of her new classmates, Leonie, Ignatz and a boy with messy brown hair named Claude.

“Hiya blue, we knew you’d be arriving soon, so I figured as house leader I should give you a proper welcome, I’m Claude, and welcome to the Golden Deer!”

The other two simply introduce themselves as, “Ignatz Victor,” and, “Leonie Pinelli,” respectively, giving a smile and small clap to set the mood.

“Our house has a good mixture of nobles and commoners alike, so we’re all just going to leave that to the side and be friends, agreed?” Claude advised, Marianne sheepishly nods, but Lorenz has a slight disagreement.

“That must be easy for you to say, Claude, being the future Grand Duke of the Alliance.”

Claude closed the distance to Marianne and put an arm around her shoulders, “You don’t need to listen to this plum, blue, we’re all the same here, we’re all classmates.”

That sounded nice to Marianne, and she thanked everyone for their greeting. Future travels are taken over by the von Riegan heir, whereupon they run into Lysithea in the library, with poor Marianne accidentally knocking over a pile of books the young mage had assembled, getting a tongue lashing as a result. The dining hall has them meet Raphael, too busy eating meat straight off the bone to offer more than a mumbled wave and hello. Finally, outside Marianne’s new dormitory is a brightly coloured young girl named Hilda.

“You must be Marianne, right?” She greets, lifting Marianne’s hand up and kissing the back, I’m Hilda… gee… you’re cuter than I expected, Mari!”

Marianne has to bury her face in her hand from embarrassment, not helped by the pinkette immediately offering to help carry her bags into her new room.

“Careful with that one, blue,” Claude warns once Hilda is out of earshot. “She has an awful habit of trying to unload her duties onto unsuspecting people like you.”

Marianne can’t help but stifle a chuckle.

When all is said and done it’s just Marianne and her adoptive father left in the hallway, one last goodbye before the young noblewoman assumes her studies.  
“I’ve prepared you as best I can for this, but if you need anything, you can always write to me.” The Margrave instructs, giving a short bow and making his exit.

Marianne steps into her room, takes off her boots and relaxes on the bed. It's noticeably stiffer and scratchier then the one back home, but it’s still a bed.

“Lorenz… Claude… Leonie… Ignatz… Raphael… Lysithea… Hilda…” She mutters to herself over and over again, then associating it with specific traits each has.

“Lorenz, tall, purple hair. Claude, messy brown hair, decorative braid… Lysithea, short, snowy white locks. Hilda, short, pink twintails.”

She continues this ritual until slowly falling asleep, the next thing she remembers being a wild rap on the door.

“Yo! Blue! You’re gonna be late for class!”


	2. Admiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marianne receives what looks like a love letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Marianne had received what seems to be a love letter. She found it on her desk but she has no idea who sent it to her. The letter asks her to go to the courtyard."

The first thing on Marianne's mind when she reads the letter is apprehension. It's an odd reading note, talking about: admiration, piousness, dedication, and a requested meeting within the courtyard at sundown all in a way that could suggest romantic interest. However, romance is the furthest thing on Marianne’s mind, especially since anyone that were to get close to her would undoubtedly suffer the consequences of her curse. Besides, she had already sat through an incredibly awkward courting attempt by Lorenz, and it had just tired her out. The letter could easily be from him, but Marianne felt he was the kind of person who would never enter another’s room without permission.

So, who else?

She pondered the possibilities among her classmates. Lysithea? Oh no, Marianne felt assured that the white haired mage hated her, same as Leonie. Raphael was always too busy with eating and training to write anything this detailed, and if it were from Hilda there would be pink somewhere on the letter, yet there was none. That left just Ignatz or Claude, Marianne felt it could be either of them, the way people talked about Claude made it seem likely that he would drop off a letter unannounced, while the prose and wording definitely matched Ignatz's style.

Marianne thought about the contents for so long that when her eyes finally caught a glimpse of the clock she realized it was an hour past what the letter had indicated. Marianne quickly threw on a coat and ran out the upper dorms to the chill evening air, off to meet her 'secret admirer.’ She made it to the courtyard but alas, no one was there, Marianne felt that they must’ve left once they realized she was a no show.

The noblewoman sunk her head and walked back off to the dorms, only to accidentally bump into someone.

"Oh, excuse me!" Came a sweet, soft sounding voice, Marianne looked up to see someone she didn't immediately recognize, someone that wasn't from her class.

Marianne was about to apologize to the now giggling women began, but she cut her off, "Looks like we both ended up late, huh?"

Marianne blinked, raising the halfway crumpled letter in her hand and asking, "From you?" 

"Ahuh! I noticed you spending all that time alone in the Cathedral, day and night, even with no one around, you must be so dedicated to the Goddess, Marianne." Now she recognized her, it was Mercedes, from the Blue Lions house, she was her admirer?

The blue haired noble didn't know what to say, so she just let Mercedes continue. "Here, I brought you some treats I baked, I noticed you weren’t at dinner, I hope you enjoy them!"

"Ah... um, thank you, Mercedes." Marianne whispered back, managing a small smile.

“Tomorrow, why don’t we pray together?”

And for once, Marianne agreed to spend time with someone else.


	3. Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploring a potential for why and how Marianne disappears during the time-skip

There was no Marianne anymore.

As soon as she had returned home following the declaration of war, things regressed right back to how they had been beforehand. No more smiling, helping hands from Hilda, or tricky but earnest Claude, or even well meaning but baffling Lysithea. She was alone now, and trapped in a home that might better be called a prison. Her classmates had returned to their own lives, all having forgotten each other. Garreg Mach was just a memory now.

Marianne was going to stay caged up until she forgot who she was, the Lord of the manor would make sure of that. She would be made inadequate, made to self guess, and otherwise ridiculed until naught but a husk remained, one which the Margrave could use to fill in his ‘perfect’ heir. So when Marianne woke up one morning to find that her hair had been cut ‘proper’ short, there were no tears. It was just another step in a long line of ‘adjustments’ she was forced to walk through.

The only one that would still listen to her cries of anguish and pleas for escape was the Goddess. Every day her prayers were the same, knelt down by the window.

“Dear Goddess… please take me away from this life, and return me to you.”

And silence.

Perhaps it was childish to expect anyone to come save her. Marianne had tried to run away in the past, yet both times she found herself walking back into the arms of her adoptive father. Away from it all, maybe it didn’t seem so bad, maybe it was just normal, and she just had to learn to accept it. She’d get a nice sweet meal and be left alone for a couple days each time, but without fail everything resumed the moment Marianne let her guard down. So she was left with nothing else but to pray, and hope. Maybe someone would come to find her, maybe the Margrave would fall ill and pass, or maybe Edelgard would show up to liberate them all as promised.

But those were all dreams.

Then one morning while Marianne was praying, a bird came to see her by the window. She watched the colourful little birdie hop around the sill, tilting its head around, chirping, it was a welcome amusement. Then the little bird pecked at the window, and the pane opened so slightly. Marianne stepped forward to investigate, the bird flying away in the process. Both halves of the window surprisingly opened fully, letting Marianne stick her head outside and breath in the fresh air. It was so inviting, and it was also a sign.

She began to hear footsteps approaching the door, the unmistakable thud of a noble’s boots. Marianne scrambled to pull herself up the tall window frame, nearly yelping as she realized how high up it was.

The lock began to click, there was no time left to think. Marianne would fly out into the open, with the wings her Goddess had gifted her. There she would rise until no more pain was left, standing by her side.

A leap of faith, of hope answered, towards true freedom.


End file.
